Thai media cries over junta's control
Thailand's freedom of the press has been significantly reduced to the level that can be called "gloomy" under the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), according to Thai Journalists Association and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association.
In their statement to mark the World Press Freedom Day today, they said though the interim Constitution guarantees people's rights and liberty, the NCPO in practice has many times issued its orders and announcements that can be used to limit freedom of expression and people's rights to information. Those include the NCPO's orders number 97/2557, 103/2557 and the NCPO's chief's order number 3/2558 (Article 5) as well as the NCPO's order number 13/2559 which recently authorise military officers to be investigators. Moreover, the government's on-going attempt to push for the laws on digital economy and the amendment to the Computer Crime Act in particular, put people's right to free speech under a greater risk.
To achieve freedom of the press, they proposed four actions.
First, the government and the NCPO are urged to quickly revoke any laws that limit or violate freedom of the press including NCPO's orders number 97/2557, 103/2557 and the NCPO's chief's order number 3/2558.
"It is extremely crucial to ensure freedom to present and exchange all-rounded accurate information, which is a key to solve political conflicts. Therefore, the government should neither monopolise the right to disseminate information nor control, interfere in media's works, or impose climate of fear in expression," it said.
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